48 hour Chuck Eye Steak with Potato Puree and Chimichurri

November 15, 2016

There are so many ways to eat meat and potatoes, one more fulfilling than the next. One especially good way is to take inspiration from the Argentinian’s who often serve meat with chimichurri, a tangy green sauce based on dried herbs, garlic, olive oil and vinegar which provides contrast to the richness of grilled meat for an overall balance. This sauce also balances a really buttery potato purée just beautifully, making it way too easy to eat too much carbs and fat – so enjoy this as a Saturday dinner indulgence and not everyday food.

Another factor that makes this dish a bit hard to eat every day is the fact that to break down chuck eye steak properly some time is needed. 48 hours or so in a sous-vide gives the ultimate experience but a pressure cooker can be used to speed up this process significantly, some 75 minutes is enough to produce a steak that barely holds itself together. In the end this will be a hybrid between a steak and barbecue that just falls apart, with a bit of magic to bring back the caramelized surface and smokiness of a grilled steak.

48 hour chuck eye steak with potato puree and chimichurri

4 servings (90 minutes to 48 hours to prepare and cook)

1 kg chuck eye beef

(33 cl pale or amber ale)

(33 cl water)

Prepare the meat

Trim any thick outside fat and connective tissue. Divide into steak-size pieces, 2.5-4 cm thick. Depending on how the cut looks you can use one or more pieces per person.

Heat a water bath using an immersion circulator to 68 degrees Celsius. Use vacuum bags or use the water immersion technique and zip-loc bags to contain the meat and cook for 48 hours in the water bath.

Alternative technique using a pressure cooker:

Trim the meat in the same way as when using an immersion circulator. Season the meat using salt.

Heat the pressure cooker pot on medium-high temperature and brown the outside of the meat in vegetable oil.

Once nicely brown but not before the meat really starts cooking on the inside, cover the meat in the ale and water and make sure the liquid level in the pressure cooker is above the minimum of the pressure vessel. Let the beer bubble off a little bit and put on the lid with the pressure valve at maximum pressure, heat up at high temperature and then reduce to the minimum while still keeping full pressure (usually a mid-low setting). Cook for 1 hour and 15 minutes.

1 dl chili sauce (Heinz)

15 ml tomato paste

15 ml single malt whisky (Laphroaig or Caol Ila)

15 ml apple cider vinegar

5 ml liquid smoke

5 ml granulated onion powder

30 ml raw (brown) or muscovado sugar

2.5 ml Chinese soy

1 ml table salt

5 ml black pepper

1 pinch chili flakes

3 drops Worcestershire sauce

0.5 dl Sherry

0.5 dl beef juices

Single malt barbecue glaze and sauce

Mix all ingredients except for the Sherry in a small saucepan and let it simmer for 5-10 minutes. Transfer some to another container, this is the glaze that can be set aside until finishing of the dish.

Whent the meat is finished, pour in the Sherry and beef juice (from the sous-vide bags or the cooking liquid in the pressure cooker) and let simmer for a couple of minutes. Adjust salt, booziness and chili kick to taste. This is the sauce that can be set aside until finishing of the dish.

1 dl chopped curly-leaf parsley

0.75 dl olive oil

2 cloves garlic

pinch of chili flakes

25 ml white wine vinegar

Chimichurri

Finely chop the parsley leaves (avoid getting too much of the stalks) and stir together with the olive oil, minced garlic and chili flakes. Season to taste with salt and black pepper. Set aside until finishing of the dish.

Add the vinegar close to serving (within 30 minutes), otherwise the green in the sauce will bleach. Set aside until ready to finish.

1 kg floury potatoes (e.g. King Edward or Maris Piper)

250 g butter

2.5 dl double cream

2.5 dl whole milk

1 egg yolk

Potato purée

Cut the butter into 1-2.5 cm cubes and bring it to room temperature by leaving it standing in the kitchen while the potato boils.

Heat the cream and milk in a saucepan, slowly until warm but well below boiling.

Let the potatoes steam off for a minute or two before pressing through a potato ricer into a bowl. After every press of potatoes, stir in a cube or two of butter using a spatula and make sure all butter is incorporated before you press any more potatoes. Stir in the egg yolk, season with salt and pepper and press everything through a fine sieve back into a pan. Adjust the texture and firmness with the cream and milk mixture to taste, remember that it’s only possible to make it looser and not the other way around. Keep warm, but not hot, until ready to serve.

2 medium sized onions

Finishing

Remove the meat from the water bath (or pressure cooker) and let it rest for 10 minutes under aluminum foil. Finish and plate the rest while the meat is resting.

Peel the onions and cut them into rounds, creating onion rings. Fry in medium-high heat in olive oil and soft, slightly charred and with a little bit of bite, around 5 minutes. Bring down the heat if they get too much color. Season with salt and finish by stirring in a little chimichurri.

Brush the meat with the barbecue glaze and use a flame torch to caramelize the surface, working one area at a time until the sugar bubbles up and the edges becomes slightly charred.

Serve by creating a smooth pile of potato purée in the middle of the plate (soft circular motions with a spoon to create the finish), followed by carefully lifting the meat on top of the purée. Drip barbecue sauce and chimichurri in a circle around the plate, with a little chimichurri also on the meat. Lastly, place a couple of onion rings on top of the meat.